Magnius led six imperial soldiers with him, flying from the Southern Lands to the Eastern Lands after having a good time and obtaining the necessary information at Avarius' large bar.
Currently, they were still in the sky in the dead region of the Southeastern Lands. Since each of them was riding a dragon, crossing barren lands, deserts, and dead forests was not an obstacle for Magnius and his men.
At that time, Vir and Aira were crossing another desert on the northeast side of the Southeast Country.
Vir strode as he pulled his cart with a wide rope attached to his shoulders, while Aira, the little nine-year-old girl sat on the cart Vir was pulling.
The man stopped, glanced at Aira, then slammed the broad strap over his shoulder to the ground. And Aira just frowned as the man grumbled at her.
"Come on!" shouted Vir. "You've sat on my cart long enough, it's time for you to use your own legs to get going!"
"I still feel tired."
"Seriously?" Vir tapped himself on the forehead. "This is why I don't like taking anyone with me, especially a little girl and a jerk like you, that sucks!"
But Aira was indifferent to Vir's annoyance, she took a deep breath, then said, "You'd better keep going, it'll be dusk soon."
"You!" Vir pointed at the little girl. "You little punk! Don't boss me around!"
Then Vir paused as he found Aira's face and gestures change instantly as if the little girl was frightened of something.
"What's wrong?" asked Vir, who immediately responded by casting his eyes around. "Hey, Aira!" he said as he looked back at Aira, "Tell me something!"
But then, he paused and gulped when he saw about half a dozen shadow dragons up there that seemed to be passing right above them.
Vir realized that Aira's special ability must have alerted her that there would be a swarm of people crossing the dead zone. And if the girl herself was as frightened as she was now, then it meant that the horde that was about to appear was not of the pleasant variety.
At least, this was what Vir understood.
"Aira," he approached the little girl as he looked far behind, at the seven dragons streaking overhead. "Hey," Vir grabbed the dull cloth beside Aira and wrapped it around her. "Listen to me," he said, touching Aira's shoulder. "We don't know who's riding those dragons, but I suggest you don't let your skills out or we'll both be in trouble!"
Aira looked at Vir with a look in her eyes that Vir himself could hardly imagine.
"Dracael!"
"Dracael?" Vir then tried to notice the seven dots in the distance.
Amazing, he thought. From this far away, Aira was able to sense the presence of dragons and could even determine which species one was, while he himself was still struggling to confirm this with the naked eye.
"Al-Banix!"
"What did you say?" this time it was Vir who gasped, looking up again. "Al-Banix?"
"It's not me who has to restrain myself," Aira said, "it's you!"
Vir gulped. That's right, he thought. His grudge against the people of the Central Empire was great and would never go away, even more so against their main tribe, the al-Banix.
"Let's hope they won't just come down and ignore us!"
Magnius saw Vir down there with a cart and a person in a thick blanket, he then invited six imperial soldiers to float down and then stopped near them.
Vir had to cover his face so that the dust and sand that flew up from the landing of the seven dragons would not get into his eyes, nose, and mouth. Likewise, Aira used a thick cloth to cover her entire face and body.
"Keep it casual," Vir whispered to Aira as he pretended to fix the thick blanket around the little girl's body.
"Don't do anything crazy!" Aira whispered back.
Vir glanced at Aira, although she looked quite pale and frightened, she could still survive better than that.
Well, Vir hoped Aira didn't use her special ability, or else the dragons would get restless, and those people would discover Aira's specialty, then maybe kill her. And even worse, take the little girl away to be used as a slave and so on.
"Ermm, pardon me, gentlemen," Vir said, especially to Magnius who was riding a dracael while the six imperial soldiers were riding wyvern-type dragons. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Kneel!" shouted a soldier on Magnius' right side. "You are dealing with the emperor's cousin, Lord Magnius the Mighty!"
Vir growled in his heart, his gaze sharpened instantly, and the fire of vengeance within his chest flared up at once.
Aira could tell, and she prayed that Vir wouldn't go mad with vengeance considering that the person before them was now the emperor's cousin.
"Are you deaf, huh?" the soldier shouted at Vir again. "Kneel down, commoner!"
Vir was finally able to control his anger, he didn't want to involve Aira in this and then chose to obey the imperial soldier's words even while holding back the resentment in his heart.
"Forgive me for not recognizing you, Lord Magnius," Vir bowed.
Meanwhile, Magnius watched the two, especially Aira. There was something he found quite interesting about the little girl wrapped in the blanket.
And then, the seven mounted dragons looked uneasy. Vir thought it was because Aira might have been frightened that she accidentally activated her ability to influence the dragons' minds.
"Stupid girl!" muttered Vir almost inaudibly. "Stop it or we'll be in even more trouble!"
Magnius was quite good at controlling his dracael mount, but the six imperial soldiers were quite troubled because their wyvern mounts seemed to be afraid of something.
The physical form of the dracael was very different from that of the wyverns. They classified dracaels as Celestial Dragons, possessing six limbs: a pair of forelimbs that were more appropriately called hands, a pair of webbed wings, and a pair of legs.
This was in stark contrast to wyverns, which only had four limbs. Only a pair of hands were webbed and twice as long as a pair of legs.
"Control your dragons!" said Magnius as he raised one hand. "This area is a desert, stay alert, your mounts might smell the sand dragons around here!"
Vir was relieved to hear that. At least, the secret about Aira was still well-kept. Yeah, hopefully, it'll stay this way, he hoped.
"You crossed this land of the dead," Magnius said to the kneeling and bowing Vir, "with a little girl - I hope she's your sister. Where, then, is your destination?"
"That's right, Lord Magnius," said Vir, who was forced to be polite to these people. At least, for once. "The one in the cart is my only sister. And we are on our way to the Eastern Lands."
Magnius looked at a soldier on the left side, he moved his head, and the soldier nodded, then got off his dragon's back.
Vir understood that well enough. There was no way a commoner would cross this dead land that had been overrun by beasts and dragons without an escort, or at least, in a large group.
Yeah, they suspect me, he thought.
The soldier glanced briefly at Aira who was covered in a blanket and looked down because she did not want to show her beautiful blue eyes to the soldier.
Then the soldier inspected the cart, Aira shifted slightly and moved closer to the right side of the cart.
"Are you a poacher?" the soldier asked Vir who had his back to him.
"Is that true?" asked Magnius as well.
Vir nodded. "Yes, my lord."
"There is only a large harpoon in this wagon, my lord," the soldier told Magnius. "And a few bags of water, redbrew, and dried meat."
Magnius moved his head again, signaling the warrior to hurry back.
"You are a hunter," Magnius said as the soldier mounted his dragon again. "But I don't see a single wild animal you've acquired. And is this a common thing, hunting with a child?"
Vir quickly racked his brain because he was afraid that the longer it took, the more powerful Aira would become. And before that happened, Vir pretended to be sad while looking at Magnius.
"My lord," he said, "our parents were killed by someone. I am the only one my sister has now. We are homeless, always moving from place to place, which is why I always take my sister with me wherever I go."
Magnius grinned at that.
"My lord," said a soldier on the right. "It looks like they're just outcasts. We'd better continue our journey to the Eastern Lands immediately."